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California Mom Cooking Up a New Way of Life

California resident Cyndie Moran was tired of meal planning. The process took hours, and became so uninspiring and repetitive she'd often resort to dining out to feed her family of six. The fast food added up, and the pounds piled on. Moran didn't know how difficult things had gotten until she saw a family Christmas photo and had trouble recognizing herself. That was the tipping point. She discovered the Cooking Light Diet in an effort to cook more at home via the site's streamlined meal planning process. This is her success story.

California resident Cyndie Moran was tired. She was tired of how time-consuming meal planning had become for her family of six, sometimes spending hours to find entrées and sides that paired well together. She was tired of the meal combinations that did pair well, often preparing the same unexciting meals over and over, and over, again. She was tired of dining out instead of taking the time to meal plan, tired of frozen meals at lunchtime, and tired of unhealthy cereals at breakfast. At her breaking point, Moran was tired of the way she looked and felt. She'd come across a family photo from Christmastime and was dismayed to find she couldn't recognize herself.

Tired of being tired, Moran decided it was time to try something different. A longtime fan of Cooking Light, she decided to sign up for the Cooking Light Diet. The meal planning benefits were almost instantaneous. Hours were shaved off of the time it previously took Moran to plan food for the family, and dining out trips decreased substantially.

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"We only eat out for special occasions [now], like after the kid's soccer games," Moran said. "And when we do, we're more choosy about where we go. I'm also looking forward to my meals a lot more, and the kids all wonder what's for dinner. They like to have leftovers from dinner for lunch the next day instead of a school lunch or something like those Uncrustables or a PB&J and a bag of chips, so they're eating healthier as well."

Grocery runs, too, became healthier, and a little pickier.

"The grocery budget is pretty much the same," Moran said, "but I'm not buying the breakfast cereal, or the snack-y items, the chips and cheese crackers and such. We're buying healthier food, and we're eating it all! And I'm choosier about the ingredients I buy—I'm looking for the freshest stuff and the healthiest options out there. But there's definitely less junk food and less food waste."

"Somehow, you're eating all this wonderful, delicious food, filling up at every meal, and losing weight. You're not relying on a lot of gimmicks, like protein bars or protein shakes, buying this frozen thing or that frozen thing. It's real food you're cooking on your own, and everyone's enjoying it."

Now 60 pounds* lighter, Moran isn't so tired anymore.

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Her family absolutely loves the meals she's been preparing for them. Moran's daughter comes home from college clamoring for specific CLDiet recipes, one of her pickier eaters has been a lot less dramatic at mealtimes, and everyone's eating healthier as a family unit. That's made the whole process so much easier.

"This food has become some of my family's favorite dishes, from Potato and Poblano Chorizo Tacos to the Tennessee Burgers with Bourbon BBQ Sauce," Moran said. "It's what they request on special occasions, so it just doesn't feel like a diet, or diet food."

What's more, the Cooking Light Diet has helped Moran cut down on snacking throughout the day, and she's now exercising regularly.

"I started walking my kids to school—my husband walks with me—and we started extending our walk a little each morning. Now we're up to almost 2 1/2 miles in the morning, and then I walk in the afternoon to pick them up," Moran said. "And I joined a gym because I needed some toning and some strengthening, so I've been doing that as well. As you lose the weight, it's easier to exercise more. And when you exercise more, it helps you lose more weight, so it's a good cycle to get into."

Oh, have we mentioned the weight loss? Yeah, Moran is definitely not tired of that. She weighs less than she has since the early 90s (back when Richard Simmons wasn't missing, y'all!), and she's confident that continuing with the Cooking Light Diet will help her maintain the weight loss.

"There's another menu, another week, coming all the time, so you're constantly reminded to do it and eat this way, to cook this and cook that," Moran said. "So it's hard to fall off the wagon. And every time I lose a little more weight I get more encouraged to follow the plan."